Nigeria 2012/2013 Tour News After a quick stop off at home in the UK following our tour of Germany and the Czech republic, we left for the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Holy Ghost Congress in Nigeria. This year we would not only be attending the congress, but staying behind to minister in Nigeria until the end of January. Congress The theme of the 2012 Congress was Signs and Wonders. It was a fantastic time of prayer and the word focused on Signs and Wonders and the evidence of them in our lives and the nations. Pastor John, once again wrote the theme song, which many people told us was powerful. We were blessed to minister on four nights of the congress and to see so many people respond in worshipping with us. The song Our God Reigns is a firm favourite in Nigeria and every time we sing it, declaring the sovereignty of God in the heavens and on earth, all we can see are hands raised and people lifting the song up to God with all their might. During the congress Pastor John also was the main speaker at a session entitled The Wonders of Worship. The tangible presence of the Holy Spirit during and following this ministry brought the message to life before our eyes and thousands of people flocked to the altar to receive more of the Holy Spirit. Pastor John speaking on the main stage Every year we see how the congress just goes from strength to strength in terms of the execution of the program, the organisation of all the volunteers, (many of whom are Pastors) and new developments such as new buildings, some of which were not even under construction when we visited during the convention in August. Redemption Camp, where the auditorium is situated and where the Congress takes place is like a model for how Nigeria and indeed, the nations of the world, can be, constantly improving; a physical demonstration of faith and prayer in action.
Top left: Our accommodation at the Redemption Resort; Bottom Right: A view of the camp from a bedroom. Top Left ongoing improvements to the grounds surrounding the Auditorium; Bottom right: A woman walking by with the buildings behind the Auditorium stage in the background. We thank God for this awesome opportunity to be a part of what is going on in Nigeria and we pray, that this desire for God to reign supreme, would be seen practically within Nigeria and all over the world.
KAFANCHAN Our arrival in Abuja with some of our luggage From the Congress we flew into Abuja and travelled to Kafanchan for the 50 th birthday celebration of Apostle Emmanuel Kure. It was a huge event with many invitees and it was an honour to be invited to minister at such a gathering. We were in Kafanchan 4 years ago when we ministered at a conference hosted by Throneroom Trust Ministries and it was wonderful to be back, to see familiar faces and to lift up the name of Jesus in a celebration of life. Vinesong were invited to minister at one of the most important times within the program. We are always amazed how the positioning of our time of ministry is perfect. We believe that worship goes together hand in hand with the word and just as we were about to go up on stage the afternoon s speaker Pastor E.A. Adeboye (also known as Daddy G.O.) arrived. Directly following our ministry he shared the Word.
Who Tied Your Gele? From left to right, Charlene, Rachael and Bohdana (Reuben s Nanny) in Kafanchan. The headwear that is being worn in the picture above is called a Gele. Charlene and Rachael have proudly learned how to tie their own Gele s and this photo is the evidence. We find it a tremendous privilege to be able to partake in Nigerian culture in this way. The Message Pastor John s message for the tour was Fulfilling our Destiny. He spoke about how there were forces at work in Nigeria that are threatening to destabilize the nation and that as Christians it is time to grow to our full maturity in God. In the time to come, many people will come running to the church, looking for help and healing and we as Christians need to be ready to reach out and help them. It was refreshing to hear that God wants us to be ourselves so that His light can shine through us. If the only thing we have to share about our faith in God through Jesus is our testimony, then God will use it to bless others. Pastor John pointed out that to avoid disaster in our own ministries and lives we should: never take people further than [we] have been [ourselves] in relevance, revelation and personal experience. The wonder of the Gospel is that God has poured the priceless treasure of His kingdom into us, knowing that we are weak and imperfect. Christ in each and every one of us is the hope of glory. Though we are weak and imperfect, likened to common earthenware, or cheap breakable clay pots God still wants to use us to build and transport His kingdom. God s grace is simply:
God s Riches At Christ s Expense Knowing that we are weak, God wants us to confront our issues and to deal with sin, envy, hurt, unforgiveness, complacency and self- pity. In allowing Him to heal us on the inside, we are able to reach out to others who are also calling out for help. God needs each and every one of us; none of us has been called to be a spectator, each one of us has a role to play in building God s kingdom and sharing real hope with others. God wants us to know who we are in Him and to truly love those around us, so that our personal lives and our churches can be places of contagious faith. ABUJA From Kafanchan we travelled by road to Abuja where we were to spend both Christmas and New Year. One minister spoke openly about the simplicity of the message and its delivery and how the church is desperate for this simplicity. We were blessed by the excellence of many of the churches in Abuja and indeed in all the cities that we visited. What is generally commonplace here in terms of sizes of congregation, buildings and technological sophistication in terms of sound and visual equipment, we see rarely, comparatively speaking, in the UK or even the US. We had wonderful times of fellowship in Abuja and we thank God for all that he accomplished during our meetings there. We are thankful to the Abuja Regional Coordinator for RCCG, Pastor Joseph Olaade, who personally ensured that we were well received by the churches. He also blessed us by ensuring that all the costs of our accommodation, whilst we were in Abuja and all of our transport costs to Port Harcourt were met. This also included hiring a vehicle and driver accompanied by one of his Protocol officers, to send our baggage and equipment to Port Harcourt by road, which was a much less stressful option for us. We didn t even know until we arrived in Port Harcourt, that the airport there is having major building works, which would have had made collecting any of our baggage and equipment a time consuming and stressful task. We would also like to make mention of the exemplary servant hearts of Pastor Tunde from RCCG Central Parish, who was our driver and Protocol. Protocol is the function designated to those who are assigned to look after us during our stay, either at a church or in Pastor Tunde s case for most of our time in Abuja. He was always available for us practically, from driving to meetings, to helping us during our set- up, to taking us shopping for groceries during our stay. We would also like to make mention of one of the Protocol officers also from Central Parish, Abuking, who
took over where Pastor Tunde left off, ensuring that we arrived at our meetings on time and practically sorting out all of the logistics of our transport to Port Harcourt. This included booking our flights, organising the van for our baggage and equipment and getting us to the airport. This help and support, contributed to the success of our ministry in Abuja. PORT HARCOURT In Port Harcourt we were hosted by Pastor Chukwugoziam and his wife Ngozi. They were such a source of blessing to us and it was so nice to have a real home away from home. They were so generous in the way that they made provision for our every need and we are thankful to God for their ministry to us. Our times of ministry in Port Harcourt were rich and powerful. Every meeting was full and the expectation of the people, coupled with the presence of God made them a fertile atmosphere for the miraculous. We thank God for all the people who gave their lives to Jesus during our meetings. One young man told us, that not only did he give his life to Christ during our meeting, but that he had also been healed of pains in his spinal cord. Miracle, Signs and Wonders Following our final meeting in Port Harcourt, we spent a wonderful time of fellowship with the leadership of the church over a meal. The Provincial Pastor of the church, Pastor Adesoji Oni (the pastor who is in charge of many churches in a specified area) told us how, after 23 years of marriage, he and his wife had just received their miracles from the Lord in the form of triplets. After struggling to conceive for many years, they naturally conceived and found that they were to be the parents to triplet girls. Their triplets were born on 21 st December 2012 and at the time of our meal; the Pastor told us that one of the girls was still in an incubator. Although two of the girls had been technically discharged, his wife was still in the hospital and said that she would leave only when she could take all three of the girls home. The girls names are Miracle, Signs and Wonders and we thank God for this wonderful miracle and testimony of hope for many. We know that during our time in both Abuja and Port Harcourt that God did some amazing things in the lives of people. We saw many people restored, recommitting their lives to God, as well as many coming to Jesus for the first time.
LAGOS We minister in many churches and meet many people along the way, but our heart is always to build lasting relationships with those who we minister to. We were blessed to be invited to minister at RCCG The King s Court on our return to Lagos. Pastor Ben has been a friend of Vinesong for many, many years and it was an amazing blessing and privilege to spend time in ministry there. We were encouraged by the testimonies given during the service, before we ministered, in which people spoke of emotional healing and family reconciliation amongst other things. These testimonies covered areas that are not often spoken about openly or addressed within the Church, because often the focus is on things that people can see, rather than what is going on in our hearts and minds. Pastor John s message touched exactly on these points, so it was a blessing to hear the heartbeat of the church, before our time of ministry. The last time we were at the church, they were in their old building. Two years on, they are in their new, purpose built auditorium and although building work is still underway, it was nice to see the realisation of the dream that we had witnessed two years previous. The church is in the final stages of building a 10- storey building in the business district on Victoria Island, Lagos. Some of the lower floors have already been completed and the church has moved into its area on the first floor. The remainder of the building will be rented out as office spaces to businesses once it is completed as the church continues in its mission to reach business people for Jesus. We know that without prayer and a lot of hard work, this project would not be possible.
Ministry photos taken at various churches throughout Nigeria One pastor shared with us how Vinesong had ministered many years ago at an open- air service organised by his church. He said many people were listening from their houses and on that night many people came forward to give their lives to Jesus. One of those who gave their lives to Jesus that night, died the next day. The power and significance of the ministry was powerfully reinforced to him through that event. All these years later he said that he was a witness that whenever Vinesong minister, it is as if the heavens open. He spoke about how every song reinforced the truth of God with such depth. He likened our ministry of worship and the preaching of the word, to bathing in God s presence. IBADAN We spent two days in Ibadan ministering in churches there and also being interviewed by a local radio station. We visited one of the churches two years ago and the Pastor told us the how one of the church members shared a testimony of healing during our time there. He said that the lady had been suffering with pain and immobility in one of her arms. During our time of ministry she stood for prayer and as she lifted her arm during the prayer time the pain lifted and she was able to move it without pain and restriction.
At the Radio Station with our Interviewer Bolaji (Big B) and his team Celebration Whilst in Lagos, we were invited to the 60th birthday Party of Bola Akingbade, the former Chief Marketing Officer of MTN, a long time friend and supporter of Vinesong. It was a huge celebration with two marquees (tents) at the front and back of the house. On our arrival we went to wish the celebrant a very happy birthday and present our gift to him. To announce our arrival, there was a trumpeter and an announcer. Then we were ushered into a room where we suddenly, unexpectedly facing the King and Queen of his state. We all greeted the King and Queen and then one of the King s attendant s asked Bohdana if she wanted to know how they greet the King in their culture. He got down on to both knees and then prostrated himself before the King and Bohdana followed. Celebrations in the Yoruba culture are always big and extravagant and full of joy, from the way in which people dress down to the way in which the food is served and presented. Top left: Inside one of the marquees; Bottom right: One of the local dishes
TRANSPORT We always give God thanks for keeping us safe on the roads in Nigeria. Driving always seems to be a demonstration of survival of the fittest. It s like being on the fairground ride the dodgems, but with real cars and a much bigger circuit. In Abuja transport and personnel were provided for us from the RCCG headquarters church, Central Parish. In Port Harcourt the church of our host, Pastor Chuwugoziam Onianwah, Jesus House Port Harcourt, provided a Toyota Coaster bus and their driver to transport us to our meetings. Pastor Chukwugoziam and his wife also made their own vehicles and one of their drivers available to us for ministry and personal use. For Lagos and Ibadan, we were provided with a Toyota Coaster bus complete with driver sanctioned by Pastor Adeboye, the General Overseer of RCCG. Our driver from our tour in 2011 Charlie (Shola) was our driver again for this tour. The Lagos bus provided by RCCG
The Roads A terrible road on the way to a meeting in Ikorodu, Lagos State Traffic in Lagos! Flash Flood
Through all the miles and the traffic, we thank God for his protection over us, our drivers and all the vehicles we travelled in. It is certainly a testimony of God s goodness that we arrived safely at every meeting. THANKFUL We are so thankful to God for everything that was accomplished in the lives of people during our tour. We are thankful for the testimonies that we were able to share within this newsletter and pray that they are a source of hope. We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for and as hope is an essential ingredient of faith, we pray that your faith would be lifted. So many people told us during this tour, how Vinesong songs nourished them in the early days of their faith, through cassettes from their mothers, grandmothers and friends, which were probably illegally produced. It is humbling to know that God used these cassettes; to bring life and hope to many. Not only that, but also that God allowed us to meet these people and for them to share their testimonies with us of the healing power of God released through those songs. Our God Reigns, one of our new songs is a firm favourite in Nigeria. In every church where we ministered that song, people stood and sang with all their hearts, declaring the truth that Our God Reigns, the words resounding, it seemed, throughout the nation. We give God all the glory for all He does and is doing through worship and the Word. Please give God thanks for: All those who gave their lives to Jesus for the first time and all those who made a renewed commitment All those who were healed during and after our ministry God s provision for us throughout the tour both physically and financially Pastor Chukwugoziam and his wife Ngozi who not only opened their home to us but served us so selflessly Pastor Joseph Olaade for his generosity in Abuja Keeping us safe on the roads Our transport, drivers and Protocol officers
Please pray: For those who gave their lives to Jesus during our tour For Nigeria that God would protect the nation from the militant actions of Boko Haram and it s threat to destabilise the nation through bombings and violent attacks in the North and throughout the nation Against corruption at every level of society For the new production and effective distribution of our CDs in Nigeria that lives would be changed and healed through the songs For our continued good health and safekeeping as we travel to the nations